I just want to thank you all again for coming to the site and leaving comments about your home reserve experience in our guest book. [Also know as "customer comments."]

You have guided us, encouraged us, pointed out problems and been the heart and soul of Home Reserve. All the comments have been of invaluable service.

Over the weekend I was thinking about all this and wanted to add this note in the blog as a way to reach out in appreciation.

Blaine
Co-Founder Home Reserve

That’s our take on the phrase from the “Field of Dreams” movie with Kevin Costner.

Our company is built around an internet model where everything is done online. But…if you live anywhere around Fort Wayne, Indiana or the surrounding states, you might want to consider coming to the factory to place your order, watch us make it and then take it home in your car!

It doesn’t take very long. You can go through all the fabric samples in our showroom (exactly the same fabrics as you see online), decide on an item, and then step out into the factory and actually watch us cut and sew your new sofa. The whole process can take under 2 hours. (The frame parts will have been prepackaged). It is especially efficient you have already been to our site and have an idea of what you will be ordering.

Besides…it’s always a delight for us to actually meet some of you face to face. It’s easy to get feedback when you are standing right in front of us. Be warned though, we may drag you into our R&D discussions and get your feedback on new product ideas.

We don’t often send out an email, but we’re doing so over the next couple days letting folks know about some of our new spring 2010 fabric additions. I was surprised when Byron told me that the number of people on our mailing list is over 30,000! These are all people who have signed our “let me know about new fabrics” request form. (We don’t send email to anyone that hasn’t asked us to do so.)

Here’s some of the new colors: (The colors are shown here on throw pillows, but they are available on the furniture as well.) You can see them all in our furniture shopping area.

Byron just finished writing the code for a “Furniture Favorites” tool in shopping.  You can add your favorite images to a collection for review. Lot’s of people have asked for this, in order that they might be able to do “side by side” comparisions of furniture and pillow selections. You’ll find the links right under the shopping images. Give it a try!

Some of you may have noticed that there is no e-mail in the ask our designers page and that the name has changed. Casey and Jen feel that this format will be much easier for all of you. This way they can focus on what is up beat and really fresh right now.  Rest assured if your have specific questions you can still call customer service. Here is a picture of how one of our customers used our designs.   

This is a show stopper. The elegance, character and smooth texture of these new bonded leathers are impressive. The back of the material is the real thing, (even has that sweet scent), while the facing is a bonded textured polyurethane. So when your friends ask, “Is this leather?” We’ll just leave the answer up to you and your good judgement. LaPaz Coffee(shown) LaPaz Black and LaPaz Saddle. We’ve heard your request for the “leather look” and here it is at last. Enjoy!

Here’s the link to the leather shopping gallery.

Sandy
Customer Service Lead

Jenny and I just finished putting together a little PDF guide on how to get started with a room design. Sometimes the hardest part is simply getting started! We’re also at work right now on more videos to show how Home Reserve can help with your project.

Here’s the link:  How to Design a Room

Enjoy your Decorating!  Till next time….Casey.

A few week ago, I wrote that one of our most frequently asked question is, “Is it comfortable?” As they say sometimes a picture speaks more than words.

Casey and I were working in our showroom studio this afternoon and noticed that Sarah’s daughter Aliyah had fallen asleep on one of the loveseats over in the corner. Sarah works in sewing here at Home Reserve and told us it would be alright if we posted this adorable photo.

I was going through files and came across these screen shots of our web site from previous years. Fun stuff!

Home Reserve site from 2001…

Home Reserve site from 2005…

Our latest version February 2010…

Getting a new sofa is very personal. Bringing an item into your life and interacting with it on a daily basis makes the thing intimate.  Add to that the fact that our furniture is ready to assemble, and you have the ingredients for a highly tactile encounter as well.

We’ve always known these things, have always regarded it as an honored responsibility that people would entrust us with the opportunity to affect their family life.  It’s a serious and actually somewhat heavy accountability that we feel.

Picking fabrics, selecting styles, manufacturing the item perfectly…these are the common elements of our work together in producing an experience in which you are proud of your purchase and feel satisfied that you’ve made smart choices.

It’s never just furniture to us. But rather, an avenue for respecting and contributing toward the principle that family life has natural and inherent dignity.